Calif. boys intended to kill at least 32 people, prosecutors say

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ELK GROVE, Calif. — Two 16-year-old boys admitted in juvenile court Monday that they planned to wage a Columbine-style assault at their high school, prosecutors said.

The two faced charges of conspiring to commit murder, conspiring to commit a hate crime and attempted burglary stemming from last February’s planned attack at Laguna Creek High School south of Sacramento.

A Juvenile Court referee ordered the teens to be sent to a juvenile detention facility.

Prosecutors said the boys drew maps of the cafeteria and planned to carry rifles and pistols in a guitar case. The plan was thwarted when a friend told police.

Prosecutors previously said the boys intended to kill at least 32 people to break the record of two shooters at Columbine High School in April 1999. The Columbine shooters gunned down 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves.

Defense attorneys have said the youths had no history of violence and the assault plan would never have likely been carried out.

The hate crime aspect of the case dealt with the boys’ alleged plan to target blacks and other minorities.